Making Medieval Style Scented Oils & Waters

by Jadwiga Zajaczkowa

The history of perfumes, particularly scented oils, probably starts with resins,
flowers, and other fragrant substances being used to scent oils-- olive, almond,
etc.-- and fats. Egyptians made complicated resin and oil based perfume
mixtures, often shaped into cones which they wore on top of their heads and
which perfumed the air as they were melted by body heat. Anointing oils were
used by the Hebrew tribes, by the Greeks, and by the Romans: there is a special
formula for anointing oil to be used only in the Temple, for instance. Generally
these oils were made by 'infusing' the herbs, resins, and flowers in the oil
or fat, either by simply letting them sit in a jar of oil or by heating them
in the oil, as well as by expression, putting the resins/herbs through a bag
press.

The oldest documented 'essential oil' is probably Oil of Roses. Legends say
it was first created by the petals being immersed in water, causing the oil
to float to the top. Avicenna discovered how to produce it by distillation in
the 10th century. The discovery of distillation spread throughout the Arab world
and slowly to Europe.

Steam distillation of herbs and alcohol together, or sometimes water and herbs together, produced 'sweet waters'
or 'water of' the particular herb. The 'water of' the herb is the hydrosol, a by-product of extracting essential oils; but some types of distillation will produce merely the water without separating out the essential oil.

Several sources from the 1500s and
1600s give detailed recipes for sweet waters and for distilling essential
oils, such as Gervase Markham's 1615 English Housewife, John
French's 1653 Art of Distillation, and Hugh Plat's 1594 Delightes
for Ladies. Many (modern) sources claim that the oldest alcohol based
perfumes were Queen of Hungary Water (a rosemary-based water) and Carmelite
water (or King Charles' water), whose ingredients vary-- both allegedly from
the late 1300s and originally used as medicinal doses and rubs.

The most popular period way of making sweet waters, however, is illegal in
this country today, because it involves distillation of alcohol. So, we must
approximate. (Though the period and near period sources mention distilling with
water, they consider the resulting product inferior.) Hugh Plat noted that it
was quicker and cheaper to make waters of some types by purchasing oils and
adding them to the water, so we do have some documentation for making waters
by mixing alcohol, water, and essential oil.

Various sources indicate that a number of essential oils were available
in period, at least in England:
Oils of: Roses, Cinnamon, Cloves, Mace, Nutmeg, Lavender (Spike), Lemons,
Benzoin, and Thyme are mentioned in recipes. Culpeper mentions that essential
oil of mint is too piercing to use straight. Oil of Violets was then available,
but it is now not available without great price. To get a comparable effect,
you can try synthetic violet scent, or if you can get it, orris root oil
or real orris root (I have not had any success with this).

NOTE: If you are making anything you intend to consume internally,
use ONLY oils, essential oils, flavorings, and herbs intended for human consumption;
ordinary essential oils and fragrances are NOT intended for consumption.Because of a small number of cases of botulism poisoning, the FDA recommends
that infused oils for internal consumption be made at the time of use, and
any leftovers stored under refrigeration and used or discarded promptly.

Fragrant Oils

To make sweet oils, we can either infuse substances in oil, or add essential
oils.

Gervase Markham's English Housewife suggests making oyle of roses or of violets, by placing the flowers
in 'sallet oil' (probably olive oil) and placing in a warm place; later straining
out the flowers. He also suggests making chamomile or lavender oil in a similar
fashion, but straining out the botanicals and replacing them with fresh ones
in the oil every three days:

"To make oil of camomile, take a quart of sallat oil and put it
into a glass, then take a handful of camomile and bruise it, and put it into
the oil, and let them stand in the same twelve days, only you must shift
it every three days, that is to straight it from the old camomile and put
in as much of the new. . . "
"To make an oil which shall make the skin of the hands very smooth, take
almonds and beat them to oil, then take whole cloves and put them both together
into a glass, and set it in the sun five or six days; then strain it, and
with the same anoint your hands every night when you go to bed, and otherwise
as you have convenient leisure."

John French's Art of Distillation (1651) says:

"OIL OF JASMINE IS MADE THUS

Take of flowers of jasmine as many as you please, and put them into
as much sweet mature oil as you please. Put them into a glass close stopped,
and set them into the sun to be infused for the space of 20 days. Then take
them out and strain the oil from the flowers and, if you would have the oil
yet stronger, put in new flowers and do as before. This is a pleasant perfume
and being mixed with oils and ointments gives them a grateful smell. It is
also used in the perfuming of leather. After this manner may be made oil
of any flowers. "

The Charitable Physitian, by Philibert Guibert, of 1639 contains
this recipe, reprinted in Rohde's The Scented Garden.

"To make Oyle of Roses three wayes:
The first way is, take a pound of red Rose buds, beat them in a marble morter
with a woodden pestle, then put them into an earthen pot, and poure upon
them foure pound of oyle of Olives, letting them infuse the space of moneth
in the Sunne, or the chimney corner stirring them sometimes, then heate it,
and presse it, and straine it, and put it inot the same pot or other vessell
to keepe.
The second is take halfe a pound of red Roses, and halfe a pound of Damaske,
beate them together in a marble morter, and put them into a pot, and poure
upon them foure pound of oyle, and let them infuse the space of twelve houres,
then pour them all into a pan and boyle them two or three boylings, and straine
them and presse them in a strong towel in the presse, and in the meane time
put in the pot as many more Roses and poure the oyle upon them and so beate
them and presse them and put Roses to the oyle three times, and then boyle
it until all the humidity bee consumed. The third is to take all Damask Roses
and make three infusions as before."

This method works well with flowers and herbs. I have made oil of spike that
way, placing the container on a radiator.

Resins and roots do better with a more direct technique, placing them
in the oil and then heating it to a slow simmer. One way to do this is to
put the oil and herb in a glass bowl, float it in water in your crockpot,
and turn the crockpot on low for 3-5 hours. Or you can use a double boiler.
For best results-- and safety-- avoid putting your oil in a pan directly
on the heat source.

Recipe for making oil of citrus blossoms
For each pound of citrus blossoms an ounce of oil.
Knead? pound? the citrus blossoms with the oil and after [it is] kneaded/pounded,
put it in a glass in the sun and shake it every so often; and if the sun
is very strong, do not leave it more than a day. And afterwards strain/filter
it, and gather/pick up that oil with a feather. And if it doesn't have
a good scent, put in another, similar [quantity] of blossoms and do the same.

This is oil extraction by water extraction, where you wait for the essential
oil to come to the top of the mixture and skim it off. I've never had success
with this technique, but it is often used commercially.

Another technique for making scented oil at home is scenting it with a
few drops of essential oils. Though the medieval European books don't speak
of oils including multiple components, at least one Arab recipe (cited in
a post to Stefan's Florilegium) involves steeping other substances in oil
of jasmine which would produce a mixed scent.

Period oils would have been olive, 'sweet' almond, and perhaps others,
such as sesame (referred to as oil of benne), hempseed and poppyseed oils.
Oil of ben (from the pods of the 'horseradish tree') was much in demand because
it had no scent of its own. (Soy oil and others can be purchased commercially
as 'unscented massage oils' and will produce good results if they are used
before they grow rancid.) Other fats/oils/greases that were used in
period and are mentioned by Culpeper, mostly in medicinal context, included
hen's grease, duck's grease, hog's grease, sheep's suet, heifer's suet and
Oil of Roses.

I have found that the amount of oil that will fit in the size of small glass
bottle that can be found at dollar stores (and the small perfume bottles
from Pier 1) will take about 7-12 drops of essential oil before being overpowering.
Consult a reference source on safety of essential oils and on mixing perfumes
before beginning.

Pick out oils that you like, and think smell well together. (You can
test this by holding the open bottles together and smelling.)

Fill the container to about 1" of the top.

Add the essential oils, a few drops at a time. When you start combining
oils, you may want to close and shake the bottle before smelling the results
and adding more.

Once you are satisfied with the combination, you may want to add a
little vitamin E oil, glycerin or tincture of benzoin to preserve it. (Note
that the first two are not period ingredients!)

Close the container, shake thoroughly and keep in a dry dark place
at least overnight. Maximum blend maturing will take up to a week to occur.

Always shake the bottle before applying.

Note: adding tincture of benzoin will often help retain the scent, because
it is a fixative, though benzoin has its own scent. Also, a chemist on one
of the lists I frequent recommends adding 1-1.5% by weight of vitamin E oil
to the mix to prevent rancidity.

Scented Waters

Since we can't distill with alcohol, we can either make a tincture by soaking
our herbs in alcohol, straining them, and then adding distilled water, or we can
make an alcohol/water mixture and add essential oils. Booth, in Perfumes, Splashes
and Colognes, p. 74-75, gives basic proportions and directions for alcohol
and oil based perfumes. (Note: some people in the SCA have done water-based distilling,
which is not against US federal law, but we won't discuss that in this class.)

I generally use vodka, as a substitute for repeatedly-distilled aqua vitae--
you can use brandy or whiskey, but vodka is cheap and better. [Note: triple
and quadruple distillation of fermented-grain products is mentioned in period,
to get a vodka-like distillate.] 'Everclear' so-called 'pure grain
alcohol' is no longer available in PA without a permit, but it will work
for perfumes/waters also. However, the probability that anyone in period
had the time and energy to produce something as highly distilled as 'grain'
is pretty small. Vodka should be between 1/4 and 1/8 of the vodka/water
mixture. For the 3-4 oz size of bottle found at craft stores, only about
7-15 drops of oil should be added; more is overpowering.

Pick out oils that you like, and think smell well together. (You can
test this by holding the open bottles together and smelling.)

Fill the container about 1/4 full of alcohol (less for a less drying
splash)

Add the essential oils, a few drops at a time. When you start combining
oils, you may want to close and shake the bottle before smelling the results
and adding more.

Once you are satisfied with the combination, add distilled water to within 1/2" of the top--
or less, to minimize splashing.

Close the container, shake thoroughly and keep in a dry dark place
at least overnight. Maximum blend maturing will take up to a week to occur.

Always shake the bottle before applying.

(For those under 21 and/or who want to avoid drinkable alcohol, herb shops
sell something called 'perfume base' which has wood alcohol along with glycerin,
preservative and some water. Perfume base should be used as-is, without dilution.
Isopropyl alcohol sold off-the-shelf at drugstores is unsuitable, as it has
been doctored with a distinctive scent which will overpower any oils put
into it.)

Hugh Plat Delightes for Ladies on the subject
of making scented waters with essential (extracted) oils:

"Diverse sorts of sweet handwaters made suddenly or extempore
with extracted oyles of spices.

First you shall understand, that whensoever you shall draw any of the
Oyles of Cinnamon, Cloves, Mace, Nutmegs or such like, that you shall have
also a pottle or a gallon more or lesse, according to the quantity which
you draw at once, of excellent sweet washing water for your table; yea some
doe keepe the same for their broths, wherein otherwise they should use some
of the same kinds of spice.
But if you take three or foure drops only of the oyle of Cloves, Mace, or
Nutmegs (for Cinamon oyle is too costly to spend this way) and mingle the
same with a pinte of faire water, making agitation of them a pretty while
togther in a glasse having a narrow mouth, till they have in some measure
incorporated themselves together, you shall find a very pleasing and delightful
water to wash with and so you may alwaies furnish yourself of sweet water
of severall kinds, before such time as your guests shall be ready to sit
downe. I speake not of the oyle of Spike (which will extend very far this
way) both because every Gentlewoman doth not like so strong a scent and for
that the same is elsewhere already commended by another Author. Yet I must
needs acknowledge it to be the cheaper way, for that I assure myself there
may be five or six gallons of sweet water made with one ounce of the oyle,
which you may buy ordinarily for a groat at the most."

Plain waters:

Plain handwashing waters were used at the medieval table, being water with
rose or violet petals in it, or an infusion of herbs. Le Menagier de Paris (translated by Tania Bayard and published as
A medieval Home companion), says:

To make water for washing hands at table: Boil sage, then strain
the water and cool it until it is a little more than lukewarm. Or use chamomile,
marjoram, or rosemary boiled with orange peel. Bay leaves are also good.

Also, you might want to make the following 'Sweet Water for Perfuming Clothes'
which Jeanne Rose quotes and says is a sixteenth-century recipe:

"To 1 qt. rose water, add the following: 1/2 oz. lavender, 2
oz. orris, 1/2 oz. jasmine flowers, 1 t. musk, a pinch of ambergris and civet,
5 drops of clove oil. Put it all into a glass jar, fasten down the lid, and
place it in a sunny window for 10 days. Then strain and set aside the liquid
for use."

From Bulleins Bulwarke, 1562: [Sixteenth-Century Sweet Water for Linens,
quoted in Rohde, The Scented Garden]

Three pounds of Rose water, cloves, cinnamon, Sauders [sandalwood],
2 handful of the flowers of Lavender, lette it stand a moneth to still in
the sonne, well closed in a glasse; Then destill it in Balneo Marial.
It is marvellous pleasant in savour, a water of wondrous swetenes, for the
bedde, whereby the whole place, shall have a most pleasaunt scent.

However, note that alcohol-less versions such as these, and the one of Plat's
above, will not keep long without refrigeration; adding the alcohol is the
part that makes it keep.

Note: A period source. A sort of handbook for the home alchemist, French's
work covers the basics of alchemy, including some of the more frightening
and dangerous recipes (such as oil of mercury).

**Delightes for Ladies, Hugh Plat. 1594.

Note: There have been several versions of this but I haven't yet worked
through my copy of it. However, here are a selection of rosewater recipes from it.

** The English Housewife: containing the inward and outward virtues
which ought to be in a complete woman..., Gervase Markham. Chapter III:
"Of distillations and their virtues, and of perfuming." first printed 1615.
Published 1986 by McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal; edited by Michael
R. Best. ISBN: 0-7735-0582-2.

Note: the chapter includes a number of recipes, not all of them safe
for modern use. Other mentions of waters are scattered throughout the text.
The easiest to get near-period resource on sweet waters.

His Good Points of Husbandry, Thomas Tusser, "Of Herbs and
Flowers." 1557. Published 1931 by Country Life Limited, London; edited by
Dorothy Hartley.

Note: Primarily an agricultural text; cited here for list of 'herbs
to still.'

Note: though Culpeper's attitude toward astrology was extreme, it wasn't
unorthodox. He also had access to the recipes of the Royal College of Physicians,
so his recipes (included in this online version but omitted from most editions
of Culpeper's Herbal), probably reflect practice in the first half
of the 17th century.

Secondary sources

Perfume through the Ages, Roy Genders (New York, Putnam, 1972).

Note: Out of print, but often available in public libraries, this source
has an overview of perfumes throughout the centuries. Use with caution: his
recipes for medieval subtstances are usually the modern equivalent, and some
of his interpretations are wrong.

Information about Egyptian, Greek and Roman use of perfumes and oils;
note that if a particular text from antiquity was available in the Middle
Ages and Renaissance, it probably influenced if not dictated what Medieval
and Renaissance readers did.Excellent charts of what scents were used in
different places, as well as good descriptions of scent extraction techniques
used by the ancients.

Note: though still in print and including a number of period recipes,
this is sadly outdated and should be kept away from children (and impressionable
adults!) due to some of the 70's-ish content and rather nasty illustrations.

Method Sources

Note: this is the book to get on making scents. Great directions for
making your own, recipes (unfortunately postperiod) for familar scents, wonderful
reference on fragrances in general, good instruction and theory on blending
scents.

Note: I'm including this book, despite its pagan/'magickal' purpose,
for its good alternative explanation of how to blend scents in perfumes (she
uses a different system than the usual top/middle/bottom note one). Her information
on perfume history is mostly wrong, though.

Safety information

** The illustrated encyclopedia of essential oils: the complete
guide to the use of oils in aromatherapy and herbalism, Julia Lawless.
(NY: Barnes & Noble, 1995) ISBN: 1-56619-990-5

Note: THE Safety book I recommend on essential oils. Also gives background
on, uses of, and types of extraction for each oil covered. Check oils here
before using.

Note: a good book to use if you are interested in aromatherapy applications.

1999-2004 Last updated:
July 23, 2004

Copyright Jennifer A. Heise. Contact me via email for permission to reprint: jenne.heise@gmail.comPermission is explicitly granted for limited reproduction as a printed handout for classes in schools, herb society meetings, or classes or guild meetings in the Society for Creative Anachronism (except to corporate officers and board members of the SCA, Inc.), as long as I am notified and credited and the entire handout is used.
Jadwiga's herbs homepage: http://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/herbs/herbs.html